Walmart Sale: Buy Xbox 360 Arcade, Get a $100 Gift Card

If you happen to be in the market for an Xbox 360 this weekend, consider the deal Walmart will be offering on Saturday only: If you buy an Xbox 360 Arcade for the usual price of $200, Walmart will give you a $100 gift card. Now, this generous offer brings up some interesting strategies and dilemmas. First, you’ve got to realize that the Xbox 360 Arcade doesn’t include a hard drive ($135 from Walmart on its own) or headset ($18 as a standalone purchase). Use your gift card for those purchases, and you’re actually paying more than the price of an Xbox 360 Pro, which remains on sale for $250 while supplies last. So this deal’s no good if you’re looking for a full-featured Xbox 360. Keep in mind that without a hard drive, you’ll have to be carefully managing your storage or buying memory cards before long.

If you’re okay with basic functionality, the Walmart Xbox 360 deal could work out nicely. A $100 gift card will allow you to purchase a couple games (one new and one bargain-priced, such as 2007′s Bioshock), and still come in under $100 after taxes. You could also buy a game and a pre-paid card for Xbox Live Arcade points. One thing to note, though: Kotaku reports that Walmart will continue offering weekly electronics deals running up to Black Friday, so don’t be shocked if an offer comes along for another console before long. [via Kotaku]